Understanding
by Lialane Graest
Summary: Stein has always been a man of science, a man that understood the why of a question. So why is it that when he is around Marie Mjolnir he doesn't understand anything? SteinxMarie.


He blames his familiarity with her wavelength for his ignoring of it. He blames the experiment for taking up his time and making it even easier to ignore her wavelength. He blames the lateness of the hour and his own exhaustion for the uncharacteristic worry he feels when he senses, rather suddenly, another wavelength in her room.

He is on his feet before he understands what he is doing, and he hears her voice cry out wordlessly before he makes it up the stairs to her room. He finishes them three at a time, his long strides carrying him to her room, his hand wrapping around the doorknob and slamming the door open. He doesn't process the situation that he has walked in on until his hand wraps around the man's arm, dragging him off of Marie, his wavelength crackling around his other as he slams the man against the wall.

She screams his name and he looks at her over his shoulder, wondering if the other man has hurt her, before finally processing that she is naked and so is the man. Realization of what he has just done strikes him suddenly, and he releases the man, taking a step backwards as pure hatred washes over the other man's face.

He doesn't fight back or resist when the man punches him; he is indeed shocked when Marie stops the man from doing it a second time. She places her hands on his chest, pushing Stein from the room. He can't comprehend the look in her eyes, but he follows her movements, apologies bubbling in his mind but not making it to his lips.

He stands outside the door for a moment, confusion rushing through him, unsure of what he should do in the situation. He knows that he has made a mistake, that he acted without thinking, and he wonders why he acted that way. He hears rustling from inside the room and the murmur of voices, low and hushed, and he mistakes it for the sound of the sheets on her bed as they settle back down, for the sound of lovers speaking to each other. He finds his hands clutching into fists, but he doesn't understand why as he walks away from her room.

His head snaps up when he hears the unmistakable sound of a hand slapping a face, freezing him in place. He takes a single step towards her room without thinking, but forces himself to stop. He knows of the games that some lovers play, and he won't interrupt again. He closes his eyes against unwanted images, images that he doesn't understand why he is seeing but cannot shake, and forces himself to walk on down the hall.

It is only when he hears Marie's door slam open again and the sound of a man's voice, angry and loud, shouting at her, that he moves back to her room. The man, mostly clothed now, is calling Marie a whore as he buttons his shirt back up. A bright red hand mark decorates the man's face.

Stein's hand clench into a fist, and he has decked the man before either are aware of what has happened. Marie's eyes are wide as the man falls to the floor, blood spilling from his mouth, his lip split. The man surges to his feet, glaring at Stein before spitting a mouthful of blood out onto the lab floor. Stein's knuckles throb as the smell of the man's blood assaults his nostrils. He doesn't understand why he just punched him.

But it felt right.

"You're a whore and he's what, your fucking pimp? You're not worth paying for; fuck this shit," the man snarls out before brushing past both of them, nearly running to the exit, blood drops leaving a trail behind him.

Marie slides to the floor against the wall, her knees pulled to her chest, crying. Stein follows the man, his hand tangling in the other man's shirt before he brings a fist back to punch him again once they've left the lab. His fist slams into the other man's face over and over, and when Stein finally releases him the man crumples, breathing shallowly as he lays in the blood and dirt.

"You will never come back here. You will never speak to Marie again or I will kill you," Stein says coldly. He doesn't understand why it is so important that he does, but he does anyway.

"You're fucking insane…" the man coughs out as Stein turns from him. "I'm calling the cops."

Stein glances over his shoulder, his neck craned oddly as he looks at the man. "Call them. See if they're willing to come here."

The man pales ever further and staggers to his feet. His face is a bloody mess, both his eyes beginning to blacken, but he moves away unsteadily towards the car that Stein just now notices is sitting a little ways down the drive. He can feel the fear radiating from the other man, hear his muttered curses.

He ignores it, and moves back into the lab. Something tells him that he should check on Marie, but his body freezes up, something unfamiliar flowing through his veins. It is almost like fear, but it is different. It paralyzes his muscles, makes them want to tremble. He feels sweat on his forehead, and does not know why.

There is no medical reason for the way his body is reacting. The adrenaline from the one sided fight should have ran its course by now. His palms should not be damp; none of the other man's blood landed on them. He should feel the pain in his bruised and split knuckles, but all he is able to focus on is a jittery sensation in his stomach.

She is still crying when he climbs the stairs, slowly and carefully moving to her side. He says nothing, just slides down the wall to sit beside her, his lab coat pooling at his sides. They sit, in silence, for a long while until he gingerly settles an arm over her quaking shoulders.

He doesn't speak as she leans against him, turning to bury her face against his chest, her tears staining the fabric of his shirt. He lets her sit that way until she stops, and then, finally, in a voice so low she almost doesn't hear it, he apologizes.

"_I'm sorry."_

Two words, that is all he says, but she nods against his chest. He hasn't looked at her soul since he came into the lab again, and decides that now, when she has calmed, he will.

He is rendered speechless by the quiet acceptance that he sees in it. Where he had expected to see anger, even hatred, towards himself, he sees nothing but acceptance. He doesn't understand that, either, but chooses to just accept it. He assures himself that given time he will be able to understand the things that occur to him when he is around her.

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**A/N: I don't know what brought this one, but it struck me out of the blue. I originally started writing it in past tense, like almost all of my stories, but I thought the change to present would be refreshing. I hope that you enjoyed this.**

**I don't own Soul Eater.**


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